Cardiovascular exercise involves physical activity that increases your heart rate. In essence, you are exercising your heart to improve its health, which in turn benefits your entire body. Knowing how to properly raise your heart rate and what heart rate you should aim for can help you maximize your workouts and make them more effective.
Importance of Target Heart Rate Zone
While it's important to get your heart rate up when you're exercising, doing too much too fast can also be dangerous. That's why the American Heart Association encourages people who participate in regular exercise to know their target heart rate zone and monitor it while working out. Proper pacing is especially important if you've been inactive for a long period of time. Easing your body into exercise is essential for not wearing out too quickly and for avoiding dizziness, light-headedness and exhaustion.
Determining Maximum and Target Heart Rate
Your maximum heart rate is the highest heart rate you can achieve through exercise. Complicated medical tests are needed to determine your exact maximum heart rate, but you can estimate it easily by subtracting your age from the number 220, according to the American Heart Association. So, if you are 40 years old, your maximum heart rate would be 180. From there, you can determine your target heart rate, which is between 50 and 85 percent of your maximum heart rate. Simply multiply your maximum heart rate by .5 and .85 to determine your target heart rate zone. As you exercise, keep your heart rate within this zone for maximum results.
Checking Your Pulse
To monitor your heart rate while you work out, you'll need to either purchase a heart rate monitor, use the heart rate monitor equipment that is included on some workout equipment or check your pulse manually. To check your pulse manually, use your index finger and middle finger and place them on the carotid artery in the neck or on the radial artery in the wrist. Do not use your thumb, since it has its own pulse. Count the number of beats for 10 seconds and multiply by six for the most accurate results, since your pulse will begin to decrease as you stop exercising to check your pulse.
Alternative to Target Heart Rate
If you don't want to take the time to check your pulse and don't have access to a heart rate monitor, there are other things you can do to make sure you're working out within your target heart rate zone. The "talk test" is an easy way to tell if you're getting your heart rate up enough during exercise, according to the American Heart Association. If you can talk out loud -- as if you were having a conversation with someone next to you -- without getting out of breath, you're probably working out at the lower end or just below your target heart rate. If you could easily sing while you exercise, you're not working hard enough. If you can't talk without getting out of breath, or you are out of breath just by exercising, you're working too hard.
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